Mmm..pie

There are a few places around here that make a delicious homity pie, Denby pottery café sells one, as does our favourite Bloomers Bakewell pudding shop in Bakewell. We have been known to detour to there just so we can eat warm homity pie whilst sitting by the river Wye watching the trout darting about.

This is my version of the lovely, originally vegetarian pie. I could not resist adding pancetta as it adds a great extra flavour but I am sure it would work without, or with bacon chunks instead. On a cold day this is great with baked beans and good cold or warmed up next day.

I have had a couple of quiche based disasters recently. I can’t seem to get them to be quite the right consistency and it can all go horribly wrong. With a Homity though, there is no need to worry about that as there is nothing to ‘set’ as such. Try it!

Baby Pies going in the oven

Big Pie and Baby Pies

Cooked, styled and photographed for Center Parcs Village Life Magazine

Homity Pie

Make up a batch of ‘rich pastry’ – recipe below, or use whatever pastry you fancy, or even leave out the pastry completely (see below).

Refrigerate for 20 mins then roll out

Butter a pie dish and line it with rolled out pastry with a good overhang as it will shrink, a lot

Prong it with a fork and blind bake it for 10-15 mins on 200 degrees

I find that I don’t need to do the baking beans thing if I use wholemeal pastry

Peel, cube (dice size) and slowly fry 1lb potatoes in olive oil until soft and browned, new potatoes stick a bit but are still nice

Peel, finely slice and fry 1lb of onions until soft and browned

Add 2 sliced garlic cloves to the onions near to the end of their cooking time

Fry off a pack of cubetti di pancetta – easy to find in the shops with the deli meat, or use bacon (I keep packs in the freezer)

All of the above can be done in advance like this:

Mix all this together in a large bowl

Add a small handful of chopped herbs: marjoram, thyme, that sort of thing

Add plenty of salt and pepper, 2 really big pinches of each

Stir in a small carton of double cream (100-150ml)

Take off the heat

Stir in 2oz mature grated cheese – like cheddar

Pile into your blind baked pastry in the pie dish

Add another 2oz cheese on top

Cook in a hottish oven (180-190) for 25-30 mins until golden

Allow to cool for ½ an hour before you eat. It’s great for picnics too.

‘Rich Pastry’

Put 180g of flour in a bowl, I use a mix of 1/2 plain flour and 1/2 wholemeal

Rub in 100g butter

Add 50g grated parmesan and a pinch of salt

Add some stripped thyme leaves if you have them

Add 1 egg yolk mixed with 1tsp water gradually to bring it into a ball

Wrap in cling film and put in fridge

You can cook any strips of leftover pastry with a bit of cheese on the top as impromptu cheese straws.

Sorry the photo’s are a bit blurry, it’s because I was in a real rush, light was fading and pie was begging to be eaten. I shall be having the rest of it cold for my lunch.

Hi Susan – thanks for your comment. I am not completely sure of the origin, but it seems to be something quite common around Derbyshire (The Midlands) in the UK. But to be honest, it’s hard to go wrong with potatoes, cheese, cream and bacon. Great comfort food whatever you do with them.
Wikipedia says this:
Homity pie is a traditional British open vegetable pie. The pastry case contains a filling of potatoes and an onion and leek mixture, which is then covered with cheese.[1]
It has a history that dates back to the efforts of the Land girls of the Second World War and the restrictions imposed by wartime rationing.[2]

Hi littlegooseberry.
I think I layered up 3 or 4 sheets and then brushed with a bit of melted butter then just baked it for 5-10 minutes just to take the rawness off the base of the pie. I have a packet of filo that wants using too so I might make this tomorrow. Hope it goes ok!
Claire

This is the best looking “pie” I have ever seen that can be made into a meal! I can’t wait to try this out. Looks like something my family will love and since I am always looking for new recipes, I am thankful to have landed on your site. Appreciate your sharing! I’ll let you know how everyone likes it!

Found it! What a beautiful looking pie. I’ve informed the husband we are having a trip out to Bakewell in the near future…..to Bloomers in particular for Homity Pie followed by Bakewell Pudding………….Followed by a week of salad and water 😉